Improvement in deep-well elevators



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS BYRNE, OF NEV YORK, Y., ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND SAMUEL S. SMOOT, OF SAME PLAGE.

IMPROVEMENT IN DEEP-WELL ELEVATORS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 50,986, dated November 14, lSG5 VTo allrwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS BYRNE, of the city, county, and State ot1 New York, have inventeda new and useful Improvement in Elevators for Petroleum and other Fluids; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the saine, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this speciiication, in which- Figure l is a vertical section of myimproved elevator; Fig. 2, a vertical section of one of the valve-seats and a portion of the central pipe.

Siniilarletters of reference in the two figures indicate corresponding parts.

The nature of my invention consists, rst, in the combination or" a heater and a chamber in which air is first compressed and then expanded with an oil-well elevator, as will be hereinafter described, this combination enabling ine to employ the air for the double purpose of forcing up the oil after it has been introduced into the elevator and also of melting the parafne.

Second. It consists in the combination of a compressed-air chamber with a vacnuin-chamber and with one or more sections of anl oilwell elevator, as will be hereinafter described,

Vthey singly or together may be removed entirely out of the elevator, or be raised slightly by the operator at the top of the well.

Fourth. My invention consists in first getting the oil into the elevator by its own tendency to rise and by the aid of a vacuum apparatus, then trapping it in the elevator, and atl terward expelling it from the elevator to the top of the well (or into a second section of the elevator, according as the construction may be) by the combined agency of elastic pressure and vacuum, the pressure being upon the top ot' the column of oil outside of the central tube.

Fifth. My invention consists in the constructing ot' the elevator with a series of sepa` rate valved sections within one another, in combination with devices which operate with the respective sections in such manner that the oil is being received from the well by the lowerinost section while the succeeding sections are passing oil to the top ot' the well.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe tlie same with reference to the drawings.

A and B represent two sections, which forni the main tube of an elevator of a given capacity, and I and H represent the inner discharging-tube of the elevator. The tubes represented are for an elevator which has two independent working-chambers, one within the other. The main tube may be constructed so as to have but one working-chamber, or it may have a greater number than two. The number depends upon the altitude at which the oil is to be raised. The lower end, J, of the tube A is perforated, so as to allow the oil to enter into it. The perforations are small enough to act as strainers.

In the lower end of tube A, just above the perforations, a fixed valve-seat,p, isarran ged. This seat is conical internally, and its small- 'est diameter is at its base. ithin said valveseat another tubular valve-seat, o, which is conical externally, is fitted, as represented, so as to be movable. On vthis seat a ball-valve, K, rests so as to close the passage through it. The seat o is attached fast to the lower end of the tube I, said tube being liared, so as to inclose the ball-valve and also allow said valve a sufficient play upward when the oil is iiowing from the well into the elevator. Through the sides of said iiared portion triangular or inverted V-shaped apertures b are formed, so as to makeacommunication between the tubes A and I, as shown. The tubes A and I are enlarged at c c', as represented-the former for the purpose ot' forming the chamber B and the latter for the purpose of accommodating the lower end of said chamber, as represented. 1n the chamberB thus formed devicesM,'N, K, b', and H', which are similar to the devices o1) K b I, are arranged, as represented. Thus two valved working-chambers are formed.

The two chambers A B and the tube H are furnished with stufng-boxes S T, for the purpose of makingtight joints between these parts. These stuffing-boxes are located so as Y indirectly, to the vacuum-chamber D by means of the pipe H, chamber D', pipe H', and passages b b. The pipes E, F, G, and 'H are fur- 'Y nished with cocks q q q2 Q3, by which the workin g of the apparatus is controlled.

L is a connecting -pipe between the compresedeir chamber and a force-pump. Y 't is a connecting-pipe between the vacuumchamber and vacuum-pump.

D is a chamber, into which the oil is emptied fatter it is elevated. This chamber is furnished with a draw-oft' cock, It.

B is a furnace, by which the compressed air is highly heated when it is necessary to use the air for melting the parafne.

U is a removable screw-cap atthe upper end of the chamber B.

All the cocks being closed, the operation commences as follows: By opening q a vacuum will be formed in A. The oil will lift the valve K and flow into A about thirty feet above the level of the oil in the well. Next q is shut and q2 opened. This will form a vacuum in H', B, and I. Next g is opened.r This will force the oil down through A and up through I into B. All of the oil of chamber A being elevated into chamberB, the operation in lower chamber, tA, commences again by opening q, and while chamber A is being again iilled chamber B will be emptied by opening g3, forcing the oil down in B andup through Hinto Df, from whence it is drawn oft' through faucet It. Chamber B is to be again filled from A and emptied again, as above described.

Should the valve K get ont of order, the stuffing-box S can be slackened and every part of the elevator taken out down to o o, inclusive. Should K' get out of order, all that has to be done is to slacken stufling-box at T T and unscrew the cap U. This done, the seat a a, with valve K', can be easily lifted outof the elevator. Should paraftine collect about the strainer J, the furnace can be started under receiver C, the valve-seats o o lifted half an inch, and hot air can be blown down between the seats o and p and through the strainer J by opening cock q. The hot air will effectually melt the parafftne, and thus overcome the difficulty from y clogging ofthe inlet-passages and other causes.

I am aware that steam and air have been used for many years for the purpose of elevating sugar-sirnps by depressing the sirup down through a column connected with an ascendin g-column, through which the sirup rises; but I am not aware that a vacuum has been employed in the same connection. v

I also am aware that vacuum alone has been for many years in use for elevating all kinds of liquids; but I am not aware that the action of pressure and vacuum on the same column has ever been used on the principle I have set forth.

I am aware that water is elevated to different altitudes by different pumps on the Mississippi river, the pump used at high water being generally forty feet above the low-water mark. A low-water pump to supply the upper pump is rendered necessary; but my arrangement of a pump or elevator having its difterent valved chambers placed within each other for the purpose of having all the stuffing-boxes above the level of the arth,1 am not aware of being used or known.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to A secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The method, substantially as herein described, of accomplishing the twofold function of elevating the oil and melting the paraftine by means of air, as set forth.

2. Oonstructin g the valve-seats so that they answer the twofold purpose of a seat for the valve and also as a valve, substantially as and for the purpose described.

3. The connection between the conical valveseats of the various valves and the dischargepipe, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. An elevator constructed with one or more valved chambers and with an outer and inner tube, substantially as described, inv combination with a vacuum apparatus and a forcing apparatus, substantially as and foi` the'purposes set forth.

5. The combination of the compressed-air chamber and the vacuum-chamber with the elevator which has one or more working-chambers, substantially in the manner herein described, and for the purpose s et forth.

6. The arrangement of a series of elevators acting within each other in such a manner that each can act independently of the other, and so that the liquid in each will be acted on by a vacuum and pressure at the same time, sub stantially as herein described.

7. So arranging the several independent elevators within one another that all the stufngboxes :may be above the level of the earths surface, substantially as described.

8. Applying pressure to the top of the column of oil within the outer or main tube ofthe elevator and at the same time subjecting it to the lifting action of a vacuum by means of an apparatus constructed and operating substantially as described.

THOS. BYRNE.

Witnesses:

JOHN S. HoLLINesHEAD, CHAs. SIKKEN. 

